• Chinese EV maker BYD beats Tesla for revenue in 2024
  • BYD made around ~A$170 billion compared to the US carmaker’s ~A$154 billion
  • BYD also released game changing charging technology

 

Our High Voltage column wraps all the news driving ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, and vanadium.

Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD is certainly building its own dream, overtaking Tesla with its 2024 financial results.

IG market analysis flagged the company has outperformed rival Tesla last year, achieving revenue of RMB777.1 billion (or around A$170 billion) which is a 29% increase year-on-year.

It comes despite pessimism which has surrounded the electric vehicle industry and lithium, where prices have been dumped in the past two years due in part to slowing demand outside the Middle Kingdom.

Compare that to Tesla’s 2024 revenue of US$97.7 billion (around A$154 billion).

Plus, the US carmaker only delivered 1.79 million battery-powered vehicles in 2024, resulting in its first ever annual delivery decline of 1.1%. BYD delivered 4.27 million units, 1.76 million of which were EVs, almost on par with Tesla.

And the Chinese carmaker is targeting global EV markets, looking to build new manufacturing facilities and expanding distribution networks across multiple regions including Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

“The global expansion strategy appears to be a calculated move to reduce the company’s vulnerability to tariffs and trade barriers,” IG noted.

BYD also has a possible technological advantage over Tesla and its futurist boss Elon Musk, last week unveiling a new battery and charging system that allows compatible vehicles to gain 400km of range from just a five-minute charge, not much longer than filling a tank of gas.

That’s a substantial improvement on Tesla’s superchargers, which provide approximately 275km after a 15-minute charge.

Looks like the company’s RMB 54.2 billion investment last year is paying off, with the new tech marking a ‘significant leap forward in EV convenience.”

“This technological advancement could prove to be a crucial selling point for BYD as it expands into new markets where charging infrastructure and range anxiety remain significant barriers to EV adoption,” IG said.

Battery Metals Winners and Losers

Here’s how a basket of ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, magnesium, manganese and vanadium is performing >>>

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Weekly Small Cap Standouts

RareX (ASX:REE)

An unexpected gallium discovery has elevated RareX’s Cummins Range project to the most advanced gallium deposit in Australia with historical drill holes containing values up to 6826g/t Ga2O3.

The critical metal, a key material in semiconductor chips currently subject to export bans from its main producer China, could transform Cummins Range, already one of Australia’s largest pre-development rare earths and phosphate projects.

Gallium assays have been identified in the upper 80m of the carbonatite pipe, occurring alongside high-grade rare earths, phosphate, and scandium mineralisation, after the company assessed historical regolith RC drilling conducted between 2007 and 2012 by Navigator Resources and Kimberly Rare Earths.

A total of 11,487 assays for gallium were completed with 36% of the assays containing >40g/t Ga2O3. RareX will now conduct further studies to determine how gallium can be integrated into its rare earth and phosphate development plans.

 

European Metals (ASX:EMH)

The company’s Cínovec lithium project in the Czech Republic has been declared by the European Commission as a Strategic Project under its recently implemented Critical Raw Materials Act.

This confirms the importance of the project, the largest hard rock lithium and tin resource in Europe, in supplying battery-grade lithium chemicals to the continent’s battery supply chain and will bring added support from European institutions as well as accelerated and simplified permitting.

“The recognition by the European Commission of the importance of the Cínovec project is a significant milestone in the development of the project,” EMH executive chairman Keith Coughlan said.

“We recently announced the formal declaration of Cínovec as a Strategic Deposit by the Czech government and this escalating formal support for the project provides greater confidence in the future permitting and financing.

“In short, it brings the production of battery-grade lithium chemicals from Cínovec one big step closer to fruition.”

 

 

 

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While RareX is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.